North America’s ultra stars were again foiled in South Africa. Although Ellie Greenwood (North Vancouver, B.C.) and Devon Yanko (San Anselmo, Calif.) have turned in recent impressive podium finishes at the Comrades (Ultra) Marathon and the Two Oceans (Ultra) Marathon, no one has been able to top the Russian stars on South Africa’s big stage.

For the first time since 2007, neither of the Russian Nurgalieva twins won, finishing fourth and twelfth, but compatriot Natalia Volgina continued the country’s stronghold. Volgina’s surprise victory came in 3:38 and 56K of racing in gale force conditions. Zimbabwean and South African runners followed in second and third.

Ellie Greenwood was seventh in 3:45 and will return to South Africa this summer for the Comrades (Ultra) Marathon. Camille Herron (Warr Acres, Okla.), a prolific marathoner with a 2:37 best, finished her debut ultra in 3:53 for a respectable eleventh place.

South Africa’s David Gatebe won the men’s race in 3:08. Defending champ Stephen Muzhingi of Zimbabwe was well off the lead pace, 19 minutes back in 34th place.

Newly minted U.S. snowshoe champ Stephanie Howe (Bend, Ore.) returned to relatively dry ground and stormed past waterfalls aplenty on one of the country’s most scenic courses. Finishing in 3:49, Howe’s runaway win eclipsed her own course record from a year ago by 18 minutes. Of note however is that most estimates have the current course at 28 (instead of 31) miles. Catrin Jones (Victoria, B.C.) was a distant second in 4:05. In a sprint for third, Darla Askew (Bend, Ore.) nipped Susan Barrows (Bend, Ore.) by two seconds with a 4:24 finish time.

Dave James (Scottsdale, Ariz.) continued a robust 2013 race schedule with another win and course record. With Mike Morton (Lithia, Fla.) recovering from injury, James ran uncontested throughout in 19:37. According to a Facebook report, James walked a lap with a struggling competitor about 60 miles into his race.

Late Sunday, unofficial Twitter reports had two runners still on the course, on lap four of five amid rainy and historically bad conditions. Travis Wildeboer and Nick Holland continued to chase the elusive 100-mile finish. Jared Campbell (Salt Lake City), last year’s runner-up and just one of 12 finishers ever, completed three laps before dropping from the race. Beverly Anderson-Abbs (Red Bluff, Calif.), racing alongside husband Alan, was still on lap three and expected to miss a time cut-off to move on to lap four.

The Barkley Marathons is known as one of the world’s toughest races. Its 60-hour cutoff time means that competitors navigate 60,000 feet of elevation gain on treacherous terrain with no sleep. It is also secretive—how and when one registers for the race remains largely a mystery.

Lagoon Valley Half Marathon – Vacaville, Calfi.

Lon Freeman (Kensington, Calif.) frequently dominates the Brazen Racing half marathon calendar, but at Vacaville’s Lagoon Valley Park, Sel Henriq (Richmond, Calif.) kept it close into the final mile. The two 38-year-olds dueled to 1:27 finish times with Freeman on top by just 23 seconds. Alex Gaber (San Francisco) was third in 1:33. The top-three women impressively finished fifth, sixth and eighth overall, with Anna French (Plymouth, Calif.) leading in 1:37. Johanna Thomas (San Francisco) and Justine Owen (Kensington, Calif.) were second and third in 1:39 and 1:47, respectively.

Jacob Puzey (Hermiston, Ore.) scored a 50K win and course record in 3:46. Following his muddy tracks, Ben Bucklin (Spokane, Wash.) and Jesse Lang (Richland, Wash.) were second and third in 4:10 and 4:26, respectively. A small women’s field was led by Anna Zielaski (Missoula, Mont.) in 5:33, finishing a mere two seconds ahead of Rachel Bucklin (Spokane, Wash.).

Gabriel Rodriguez (Baltimore, Md.) scored victory in 1:02:24 at the 19th annual race, known as an East Coast legend for its 18 percent grades and uber-technical trails. Dominic Grillo was exactly three minutes back in 1:05:24 for runner-up honors. Further results were not yet available at press time.